Wimbledon breakthrough: Lleyton Hewitt's teenage son Cruz Hewitt powers into second round with dominant display
Sporting his dad's signature backwards cap, the 16-year-old dispatched Russia's Savva Rybkin 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round of the boys' singles on Sunday, sending a clear signal that he is ready to step out of the shadow of his two-time Grand Slam-winning father.
It marks another milestone in what is shaping up to be a promising junior career for the teenager, who earlier this year made the second round at the Junior Australian Open after being handed a wildcard into men's qualifying, where he faced a baptism of fire against former world No.20 Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Cruz will face a tougher challenge in the second round at SW19 - a showdown with 11th seed Oskari Paldanius of Finland.
His father, who also captured the 2001 US Open and remains the last Aussie man to lift a Grand Slam singles trophy, watched proudly from the stands as his son made light work of his first-round opponent.
But Cruz isn't simply aiming to follow in his father's footsteps - he wants to surpass them.
'There's definitely pros and cons (to being a Hewitt) but I try to focus on the good things that come with it,' he told Channel 9 earlier this year.
'The pressure doesn't bother me too much, I feel like it's kind of a challenge to be better than him, so that's what I'm trying to do.'
The younger Hewitt said his experience at the Australian Open gave him a valuable taste of the professional circuit and revealed the gulf between junior and senior competition.
'It's good to be here and it was great to get the opportunity to play in the men's qualifying,' he said.
'I think it was a great step forward and I learned a lot from the experience with the crowd and just playing those men's players instead of the junior players.
'I feel like playing the men, every point is the same level and there's no let-up (whereas) in juniors, you get a few cheaper points here and there.'
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